Happy Holidays!

Our 2010 holidays were happy, despite the busy and sometimes chaotic air about the season. We have so much for which to be thankful and Thanksgiving just gives us one more reason to celebrate and express that.  We recognize that God is the giver of all good things and feel so grateful to Him for His presence in our lives as well as all the extras! 

The girls made Thanksgiving pumpkins.  I stole this cute idea!  They wrote, or had me write in Kaitlyn's case, one thing they were thankful for on each strip,and decorated them.   These served as handy decorations for Thanksgiving Day.

 

Hannah's thankful list:  Life, Sun, Food, God, Friends, Family, Seattle, 

Home, Church, Kaitlyn, Snow, Birthdays

Kailtyn's thankful list: Toys, Colors, Pictures, Our house, Candy, Blankie, God,

Hands, Hannah, Me, Family, PJs.

We hosted the Thanksgiving Day meal.  Dale's mom was in town visiting, my sister came over as well as some of our other Seattle family that don't have relatives in the area.  I had lots of good help in the kitchen!

   

 

  

The traditional kids' table prepared for consuming the feast!  And oh, what a feast!  The Fullers and the Andersons sure know how to please the taste buds!  

 Dale and his mom!

 The afternoon and evening were spent playing games, watching football and movies.... and of course, consuming left-overs!

 The child is asleep!  That turkey will make you do strange things! :)

 

So, can we handle Thanksgiving and Christmas all in the same post?  Here we go? We hosted and attended LOTS of parties in December.  I had my 3rd Annual Ornament Swap for all the ladies I know.  And for the 3rd year I failed to take pictures.  I get so caught up in the business of hosting I forget all about my camera!  Every year has been full of laughs, beautiful and fun ornaments, and some good-hearted stealing!  Maybe next year I'll take some pics! :)

 

Here are some of the LifePoint staff families who came over for a fun-filled evening of food, games, White Elephant gifts and the dearly loved Christmas Vacation.

Taking the kids to see Santa proved rough for Kaitlyn.  She wouldn't pose with Mommy and was quite mad when we forced her to pose with Old St. Nick!  And I think his response to Hannah had to be "Is that all?" when all she said she wanted was Silly Bandz.  The child is a little obsessed!

Our family enjoyed a night out in Bellevue on Snowflake Lane.  Live toy soldiers marched and drummed to the music, Christmas characters walked around and "snow" fell from the sky.  It was.... magical! ;)

The girls love any chance they get to help make food, especially yummy Christmas cookies.  Some were saved for Santa, along with some carrots for the reindeer.  Hannah was so thoughtful not to exclude them! 

Christmas Eve we had a beautiful service at church.  Following that, Tara and our family gathered back at our home for dinner and a reading of the Christmas Story - the story of Christ's birth, which is the reason for all of our celebrations.  If God had not entered time in the form of Jesus Christ, we would be in a desperate situation.  We celebrate because He came to save us and give us abundant and eternal life!  And we also took some time to celebrate each other, expressing the things about the members of our family that are important to us and make them special.  Our stuff is great, but it will fade.  It was a sweet time of family encouragement!

Christmas Day was a PJ day at our house!  So nice and relaxing as we leisurely opened gifts, Skyped with Mom and Dad in Houston, ate good food and played games.

Whew!  That was a long post!